Seminar Paper of Touching the Void

2. The quotes that I was interested in

#1: The knife! The thought came out of nowhere. Of course, the knife. Be quick, come on, get it. (Simpson 102)

#2: A burning, searing agony reached up from my leg. It was bent beneath me. As the burning increased so the sense of living became fact. Heck! I couldn’t be dead and feel that! It kept burning, and I laughed – Alive! Well, fuck me! – and laughed again, a real happy laugh. I laughed through the burning, and kept laughing hard, feeling tears rolling down my face. I couldn’t see what was so damned funny, but I laughed anyway. Crying and laughing at high pitch as something uncurled within me, something tight and twisted in my guts that laughed itself apart and left me. (Simpson 109)

#3: The rope which had been tight on my harness went slack. Simon was coming! He must know something had happened, I thought, but what shall I tell him? If I told him that I had only hurt my leg and not broken it, would that make him help me? My mind raced at the prospect of telling him that I was hurt. I pressed my face into the cold snow again and tried to think calmly. I had to cool it. If he saw me panicky and hysterical he might give up at once. I fought to stem my fears. Be rational about it, I thought. I felt myself calm down, and my breathing became steady; even the pain seemed tolerable. (Simpson 74)

#4: The change in me was astonishing. I felt invigorated, full of energy and optimism. I could see possible dangers, very real risks that could destroy my hopes, but somehow I knew I could overcome them. It was as if I had been given this one blessed chance to get out and I was grasping it with every ounce of strength left in me. A powerful feeling of confidence and pride swept over me as I realized how right I had been to leave the bridge. I had made the right decision against the worst of my fears. I had done it, and I was sure that nothing now could be worse than those hours of torture on the bridge. (Simpson 133)

#5: A wave of nausea surged over me. I pressed my face into the snow, and the sharp cold seemed to calm me. Something terrible, something dark with dread occurred to me, and as I thought about it I felt the dark thought break into panic: ‘I’ve broken my leg, that’s it. I’m dead. Everyone said it . . . if there’s just two of you a broken ankle could turn into a death sentence . . . if it’s broken . . . if . . . It doesn’t hurt so much, maybe I’ve just ripped something.’ (Simpson 72)

3. Analyzed quotes

The knife was in my sack. It took an age to let go a hand and slip the strap off my shoulder, and then repeat it with the other hand. I braced the rope across my thigh and held on to the plate with my right hand as hard as I could. Fumbling at the catches on the rucksack, I could feel the snow slowly giving way beneath me. Panic threatened to swamp me. I felt in the sack, searching desperately for the knife. My hand closed round something smooth and I pulled it out. The red plastic handle slipped in my mitt off with my teeth. I had already made the decision. There was no other option lest to me. The metal blade stuck to my lips when I opened it with my teeth. (Simpson 102-103)

This passage describes the situation until he cut off the rope which was connected Joe and Simon. At that time, Simon was afraid to do what he was going to do; however, he had no choice but to cut off the rope. He could not think anything in the panic. Cutting off the rope was all he thought.
This scene was just fatal to their doom. They expresses about a feeling of Simon who is going to abandon Joe who is the partner Simon had climbed together for about a week.

I was really frightened of was losing a sign of life in the empty bowl of mountains surrounding me. (Simpson 147)

This passage describes Joe’s feeling when he realized a fear of lonesome death. The enormous mountain caused him incalculable solitude. Because in the mountain, he realized how his existence was small, therefore, he felt lonely more and more.

Simon had said nothing about what he would do, and I had been nervous to prompt him. In an instant an uncrossable gap had come between us and we were no longer a team working together. (Simpson 75)

This passage describes the situation when Joe confessed Simon that Joe’s leg was broken. Simon said to Joe nothing, and it made Joe anxiety. Joe could not say anything because he knew he had to give up his life.
By instinct, Joe realized that his life would be end, and expected that their partnership would not continue anymore.